The city's lawyers are trying to work out a new 10-year contract, but a dispute over the total amount of franchise fees remains unresolved.

A tentative agreement, which received initial approval from the City Commission on Wednesday, attempts to end years of residents' complaints about the company's service, or lack of it.

Under its terms:

-- If TCI does not meet specific customer service standards, the city can order refunds to customers and fine the company from $100 to $500 per offense.

-- As TCI provides new cable services to other communities, it must also provide them to Hollywood.

-- TCI will provide Hollywood with more than $172,000 in audio and video equipment without passing the cost on to subscibers. The equipment should improve broadcasts from City Hall.

-- The city will be able to broadcast 12 events per year. City staff will operate the equipment, but TCI will provide them with training.

The law, and the franchise agreement that accompanies it, will come up for a final vote next month.

In the meantime, the two sides will try to come to terms over whether the 5 percent franchise fee TCI passes on to residents should be included in gross revenues.

Doing so required TCI to pay the city a larger fee. That's important in Hollywood, which expects to generate more than $650,000 in franchise fees from TCI in 1996.

Matthew Leibowitz, the city's attorney in the negotiations, said at issue is a recent ruling by the Federal Communications Commission that Baltimore improperly charged its cable company a franchise fee on the money it collects from customers and passes on to the city.

Cable companies like TCI have voluntarily paid the additional fees to cities for years. But since the FCC's ruling, the cable industry has balked, Leibowitz said.

"We're not really sure how many dollars that is at the moment, but it's relatively small," Leibowitz said.

But he added: "Over a 10-year period, as the number grows and as services expand, that [extra money) becomes more and more meaningful."

Leibowitz said TCI has also agreed to pay the money in Los Angeles, despite the FCC ruling.

Anthony Genova, TCI of South Florida's general manager, said the company believes the issue is one of fairness.

"We agree on all the other issues, but we can't accept the language in the ordinance which includes franchise fees as part of gross revenues," he said. 'We feel it's excessive."

City commissioners, however, were more concerned with overcoming TCI's history of not responding to customer calls.

"Never once in the entire 15 years - and I've been a subscriber - have they ever answered the telephone," said Commissioner Cathy Anderson. "My relationship with TCI has not been a good one."